Top 10 Fuel-Efficiency Surprises

 

GM performed a minor miracle in producing a full-size, gasoline-imbibing V-8 SUV that gets better city fuel economy than a Ford Fusion or Honda Accord V-6 and matches that of the four-cylinder Camry. The Tahoe hybrid is GM’s first full-hybrid product, and it offers significant gains over the standard Tahoe, whose fuel economy approximates that of a 1950s bread truck. Most notable on the Tahoe is the patented two-mode hybrid transmission that is—dare we say?—a significant improvement in both efficiency and performance over the CVT used in cars such as the Prius. It can function as a CVT or a four-speed automatic, taking advantage of the best attributes of each.

 

A standard hybrid arrangement consisting of a 300-volt battery pack and twin electric motors assists a retuned version of GM’s 6.0-liter V-8 that, on the two-wheel-drive model, will return 21 mpg in the city and 22 on the highway, not at all heinous considering the nearly 6000-pound curb weight. While this is all well and good, our Dave VanderWerp makes the point that fuel economy and performance could be improved and much cost and complexity avoided by installing a modern diesel. Heck, how about a diesel hybrid to really boost GM’s CAFE? Perhaps management still shudders at the memory of the mechanical train wreck that was its last attempt at a passenger-vehicle diesel. We certainly do.

 

More important to many Tahoe buyers than fuel economy, however, is the 6000-pound towing capacity, which gives the fraction of large SUV owners who can justify ownership by the occasional need to tow something heavy, such as a party barge with twin kegerators, a green option. And if they park their Tahoe hybrid in San Francisco, that prominent hybrid labeling might prevent it from getting keyed, yet the V-8 burble maintains spiritual ties to manly American stuff such as NASCAR and shaving with a Bowie knife.

 

 

You’ve probably had a Dodge Sprinter—known to the rest of the world as the Mercedes Sprinter—waiting in your driveway while someone delivers flowers, insists your wireless router is causing the connectivity issue, or aims that blasted satellite dish. This Euro-special is a remarkably different approach to small commercial vehicles from what had previously been available here.

 

Until the introduction of the Sprinter, the delivery-and-service trade was limited to the standard ’Merican van as popularized by plumbers, child molesters, and soccer teams: ladder frame, truck powertrain, and a V-8, be it gas or diesel. The Sprinter, however, employs a 3.0-liter Mercedes diesel V-6 making just 154 horsepower but a respectable 280 pound-feet of torque. Because its gross vehicle weight is above the 8500-pound federal commercial-vehicle threshold, Dodge doesn’t have to release fuel-economy figures for the Sprinter, so it doesn’t. But according to people who use them to earn a living, low-to-mid-20s, fully loaded, can be seen regularly. The last time we tested a Sprinter—it comfortably seated 10—it was fitted with a less powerful but more miserly 2.7-liter diesel inline-five, and we got 30 mpg combined.

 

The Sprinter uses a bespoke chassis with a low floor height to maximize interior volume, and it’s available in two wheelbases, three vehicle lengths, and three roof heights. We are particular to the “mega-roof” option with its seven-foot ceiling, offering heretofore unavailable entertainment possibilities on long road trips—touch football, for one.

 

Dodge has a real-world, customer-driven test fleet of plug-in, diesel-electric hybrid Sprinters. Some delivery routes in metro areas such as New York City are able to run almost completely on battery power. For those who stumble daily through soot-choked cities, that’s practically as exciting a future as rent control.